Pneumatic shoe



June 11, 1935. L. w. SIMISTER 2,004,906

PNEUMAT IG SHOE Filed March 5, 1934 17 INVENTOR Patented June 11, 1935UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE PNEUMATIC SHOE Louis W. Simister, New York,N. Y., assignor of one-half to Joseph Farese, New York, N. Y.

Application March 5, 1934, Serial No. 713,989

3 Claims.

. This invention relates to foot wear, such as shoes, boots and thelike, and has as its principal object the provision of pneumatic meansto support the foot, whereby an unusual degree of comfort is attaineddue to the elasticity of the air supported sole.

Another feature is the provision of an intermediate sole for shoes,containing an inflatable chamber co-extensive with the area of the foot.

A further aim of the invention is the provision in the inflatablechamber of another and similar inflatable chamber to extend over theshank of a shoe, to give additional elasticity to that part of the shoeand comfort to the foot.

Another feature of the invention is the provision of a rim of hardrubber or similar material about the air-filled intermediate sole, toprevent its breaking while in use.

Another purpose of the invention is the provision of a simple,inexpensive pneumatic support for shoes which may be attached to anyshoe upon the market.

These and other useful and advantageous objects and advantages areobtained by the novel construction and combination of parts hereinafterdescribed and shown in the accompanying drawing, forming a material partof this disclosure, and in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a conventional type of shoe, asmade in accordance with the invention.

Figure 2 is a side elevational view of a portion of the upper part of ashoe, the outer sole and heel having been omitted.

Figure 3 is a bottom plan view of a shoe, part of the outer sole beingbroken away, to show the intermediate, air-filled sole.

Figure 4 is a transverse sectional view, taken on line 44 of Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a similar sectional view, taken on line 55 of Figure 3.

Figure 6 is a bottom plan view of the shoe.

Figure 7 is a transverse sectional view similar to Figure 4, showing thefirst step of a method of inflating the intermediate sole. I

Figure 8 is a view similar to Figure 7, showing the second step of amethod of inflating the intermediate sole.

Figure 9 is a similar View, showing the intermediate sole filled withair.

Referring more in detail to the drawing, the reference character I 0designates in general a conventional type of shoe, having an upper soleII, an intermediate, inflatable sole l2 and an outer or tread sole I3,to which is attached a heel I 4. i

The improvement consists in the insertion between the upper and thelower or tread sole, of a pneumatic sole, indicated generally by the nu-5 meral [2 which consists of a rubber inlay of the shape of a sole. Thisrubber inlay is provided along its border with a frame or rim l5 of hardrubber or other suitable hard material. The rim l5 unites the uppersheet I6 and the lower sheet 10 ll of the inlay I2, intermediate ofwhich is a chamber l8.

' In order to make the shoe still moreelastic and walking still morecomfortable, there is provided within the chamber l8 a secondary chamberI9, 15

cemented or otherwise attached thereto midway between the sides of thechamber and extending over the instep of the shoe, to materially supportthe same.

One .method of inflating the chamber I8 is shown in Figures 7 8 and 9 ofthe drawing. The device may be made of an upper and lower part I6I'lrespectively, forming a chamber I8 therebetween. The outer rim issecurely molded about the device and made completely air tight. Only asmall opening is left, into which a tube 20 is inserted which isconnected to any convenient source of compressed air or the like, bywhich the sole is inflated. The secondarychamber I9 may be inflated in asimilar manner.

In operation, the upper part of the shoeis first completed. Then theheel is nailed or otherwise secured to the tread sole I3. The heel, asmay be seen in Figure 6, is somewhat smaller than the surface of thesole I3. The intermediate, air-filled sole is then placed upon the innerside of the tread sole, and both the intermediate sole and the treadsole are then secured to the upper sole II, by stitching or in any othersuit able .manner.

The foregoing disclosure is to be regarded as descriptive andillustrative only, and not as restrictive or limitative of theinvention, of which an embodiment may obviously be constructedcontaining many modifications without departing from the spirit'of theinvention or from the scope of the appended claims;

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new, and desiredto be secured by Letters Patent, is: V 50 1. A shoe sole having aninflatable chamber substantially co-extensive with the area of thesurface of the sole, and a secondary inflatable chamber securelypositioned therein in the plane of the first named member.

2. A shoe sole comprising a, rim, sheets of elastic material secured tothe upper and lower surfaces of said rim to provide an air chamberintermediate the sheets and the rim, and a secondary 5 air chamber ofelastic material securely positioned in said first named chamber belowthe v shank portion.

